Implementing selected techniques in the intercultural approach in newspaper-based EFL lessons

Abstract

As for many years foreign language courses have tended to focus on the linguistic aspects of the English language, teaching culture was neglected in many EFL settings. However, such phenomena as globalization, rising immigration to the English-speaking countries or numerous opportunities for contact with people who belong to a different cultural background create the need for including culture into language courses. Despite this, many teachers of English are still reluctant to incorporate the cultural component into their classrooms and those who do integrate language and culture teaching prefer to focus on factual knowledge. As a solution, glottodidactics proposes a new approach to teaching culture that is called the intercultural approach which is not merely yet another set of techniques and procedures used to teach culture. It is also a new way of viewing culture and its place in language learning and teaching. The present paper aims at presenting a two-week action research study conducted by the author and based on implementing certain techniques recommended by the intercultural approach to teach some aspects of the culture of Great Britain through the medium of the newspapers.